Voice User Interface Design

Our Approach
Designing a voice user interface (VUI) is not easy. In fact, it requires a unique skill set that combines expertise in both linguistics and human factors. And, it is also essential that the VUI design account for the nuances particular to speech applications, such as the importance of anticipating errors and letting the caller know where they are within the application.

Versay's voice user interface (VUI) consultants can help your company turn any business process into a speech-driven self-service your customers will actually enjoy using. We design the VUI to simulate an interaction with your best agent, ensuring that the application is as friendly, natural-sounding, and easy to use as possible.

Know the Caller
From start to finish, understanding user needs is critical to designing an effective speech application. While this tenet holds true for all types of interface design, it is perhaps most important in the design of speech interfaces. Our VUI consultants spend time gaining “in the trenches” knowledge of the end-user population and the context in which the application will be used to ensure that it is designed for optimal functionality. Some of the first questions our consultants ask include “Why are the users calling this system?”, “Have the users accessed this service in a different way before?”, and “What terminology is commonly used at this company?”

Know the Company and its Objectives
The character, or persona, of a speech application is much like the “look and feel” of a web page. It conveys the purpose of the application and gives the caller clues about how to use it. A well-designed persona should reflect the application's defined business objectives. For example, a customer-facing application that provides entertainment news will likely have a much more informal persona than a banking application. To develop an appropriate persona for your application, our consultants will analyze a variety of significant factors, such as “Who is the audience?”, “What is the feel of the company's brand?”, and “What is the application's role in expressing this brand?”

Our VUI consultants will work with representatives from key areas of your business, such as Marketing, Customer Service, and Information Technology to gather the application's business and technical requirements and other contextual information. Based on this knowledge, our VUI consultants will develop a complete dialog specification for your speech application. A dialog specification includes:

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